SAN FRANCISCO – A former Monterey County public defender who once worked at
the U.S. Justice Department on a settlement with black farmers pleaded guilty
Thursday to charges she practiced law in California without a license and
cashed her paychecks under false pretenses.

Margaret O'Shea, 39, entered the plea as part of an agreement with
prosecutors under which she would not have to serve prison time unless she
committed any crimes during three years of felony probation, said Deputy
District Attorney Steve Somers.

O'Shea, a Stanford University graduate who earned a law degree from the
University of Pennsylvania in 2000, resigned from the Monterey County public
defender's office in September 2004 when it was learned she was not a member
of the California Bar. She worked there for